"Behind a tree-lined concrete plaza, Santi blends in seamlessly with the corporate high-rises of Midtown East. Inside, you’ll see folks in quarter-zip business casuals or full suits, merging and acquiring around the horseshoe bar, or under the silver bauble lights hanging from the mezzanine. But while this two-story Italian restaurant might be popular for prix fixe power lunches, that description sorely undersells the quality of the food. You get what you pay for here—which is wonderful, given that you'll probably pay quite a lot. photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff Unlike at some corporate card-courting restaurants, Santi deploys luxury ingredients like caviar and uni thoughtfully and purposefully, to their full power. Truffle-related flourishes that could feel like a cost-justifying shell game genuinely elevate the dining experience here. Take the butter—stamped with the restaurant’s name and churned on site—that comes with the complimentary bread at dinner. It was inside the cow just 48 hours ago, your server informs you. That’s a little silly, you may think, hoping to put the visuals associated with inside the cow out of your mind as soon as possible. Until you actually try the unbelievably creamy, tangy butter, and your thoughts no longer take the form of words, only animal sounds of pleasure. photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff photo credit: Alex Staniloff Santi is from the chef who opened Marea and Ai Fiori, and as at those places, the pastas are extraordinary. Every section of the menu has its delights, particularly the crudos, but your goal should be to eat as much pasta as humanly possible. Each one is special, and no matter what you order, your simple, gold-rimmed plates will inevitably be wiped clean, as if a dishwasher came out and did a first pass tableside. Many couples will toast to their anniversaries here, but Santi is even better suited to special occasions that aren’t explicitly romantic, like celebrations with family or colleagues. The division into several smaller dining areas, and the oil portraits on the walls help warm up what could otherwise be a cold, cavernous space—and we'd prioritize dinner over lunch, when you’re less likely to feel like you’ve stumbled into one big quarterly sales meeting. Food Rundown photo credit: Alex Staniloff Gamberi Rossi This crudo is the most important exception to our pasta-first policy at Santi. The tableau of candy-sweet Montauk red shrimp, delicate pickled chiodini mushrooms, and ample caviar looks like the prawn-striped flag of a country we’d want to expatriate to. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Garganelli Decorated with strips of prosciutto and bitter radicchio confetti, the many ridges of the thin yet substantial, quill-like garganelli are an ideal, hollow vessel for velvety truffle butter, which somehow eats dangerously light. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Pansotti With a finely milled filling of lobster and shrimp that tastes powerfully of the sea (and reminds us a little of wontons), this squid-ink pasta tossed in a sweet-tart pomodoro sauce becomes more interesting with every forkful—it’s made with lobster stock and a little Pernod. The braised sepia on top has a lovely, tender bounce. photo credit: Ciera Velarde Busiate There are many Italian restaurants in New York City where this would be the best pasta by far. Not quite so at Santi, but it’s still excellent. Blanketed by black truffle, this rich yet bright pasta is a celebration of mushrooms. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Tortellini Classic, perfect. These tortellini have a luscious, mortadella-heavy filling and a simple parmesan rind-infused cream sauce. It’s the kind of bite that sends you rocketing back to childhood—not your own childhood, but someone else’s, somewhere in Italy, in some other era. Kitchen window open, white curtains blowing, big-band music on the radio, Nonna making dinner. Bellisima. photo credit: Ciera Velarde Astice The best part of this dish is its adaptation of cacio e pepe, made with green peppercorns soaked in cognac—for a milder, sweeter sauce that doesn’t overpower the gently cooked lobster. Another highlight: The deep golden lobster coral croquettes, spongy on the inside and crisp and golden on the outside. video credit: Molly Fitzpatrick Coniglio Al Forno This showpiece for two is a nose-to-tail preparation of rabbit: juicy roasted saddle and a particularly stunning confit legs cappellacci. It is delicious. It is impressive. It is also a massive amount of food, so diner beware—especially if you’re trying to maximize your pasta consumption. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Tartaletta As full as you might be, order at least one dessert. Specifically, the wonderful, complex tartaletta, which features pistachio in three dimensions (praline crunch, puree, and gelato), a petite baked pear, ricotta cream, and a crisp pate sucrée tart shell. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Drinks Santi makes nice cocktails, but the wine list is stellar. Ask for a recommendation, especially for an Italian red (we loved a lightly smoky, cherry-forward Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso). And cap off your meal with a braulio shakerato: amaro transformed into a frosty, creamy alpine milkshake that we’d happily drink every day." - Molly Fitzpatrick
